is this going to cause a catastrophic failure if I continue to drive on it for a little while?
Not gonna be a ton of miles but I drive it to and from school so I just dont want to mess anything up too bad before I swap rear ends
Anythings possible. ...if it's the axle bearings they could seize up, thus seize that size of the axle, then possibly seizing up the rear end, destroying the tranny and drive train in the process...or if only one side seizes up, depending on you speed, could cause you to spin out...
Now, these are just hypothetical scenarios, but still possible. ...
But, would I keep driving it? Yes, I probably would, because it's my car and I know how my car is supposed to feel when driving...which is why it's important to know exactly how your car acts on any given day...
I know that my car idles around 1300rpm for about a mile on a cold day, but I expect that now, so it doesn't concern me...
So, basically, just keep an ear open and look for slight signs of it getting worse, like constant noise or vibration that wasn't there before, which will be easier now that I know your steering is much tighter now that you fixed the inner tie rod....
Probly 75% of the mustang owners on here can tell you every little sound and smell their car makes, like my e-brake handle rattling, and can self diagnose their cars better than any shop can....
So, what I'm saying, is yes, it is possible...but you know your car the best and should be able to make a sound judgment call on whether or not to drive it...